Introduction
Cyberspace has played a detrimental role in shaping the nature of social interactions among people worldwide. However, the addiction that forms as a result of the excessive use of social media and news consumption of news plays a cruel trick on many people, particularly in terms of undermining the security and privacy of information. This discussion aims to evaluate the impact of cyberspaces on perception, the effects of false information and manipulation, and solutions to safeguard against many persistent cyber threats.
Perception and Impact on Democracy
The influence of cyberspaces on people’s perception is rather inevitable. In 2022, there were 313.6 million internet users in the United States alone, considering the fact that the country’s population is 331.9, which means that up to 95% of the entire population has access to cyberspace (Petrosyan, 2023). Users are highly likely to come across materials aligning with pre-existing opinions because cyber platforms are shaped with selective exposure at their core, which means that the users are only exposed to views supporting their own worldviews in online echo chambers.
Such echo chambers can subsequently strengthen people’s opinions and exacerbate the polarized character of disputes (McCoy, 2019). The polarization of public opinion through the impact of cyberspaces can harm democracies and societies overall because it rewards extreme positions and weakens moderate or centrist views. The perceptions, which include fears, desires, or emotions, can shape the way individuals interpret information, especially if they feel threatened.
Involvement in Elections
It is always important to acknowledge the potential impact that false information could have on US elections because there is evidence of it happening in the future. If domestic security measures are insufficient at preventing the infiltration of foreign players into elections, over time, their influence may be high enough to affect election outcomes. However, reports suggest that the United States is fully aware of the intentions of countries such as Russia to destabilize voters’ trust and raise concerns over the fairness of the elections (Schifrin, 2020). Thus, their inability to have significant influence stems from the direct countermeasures that the US implements.
How Perception Is Manipulated Online
Online environments are shaped in such a way that it is impossible to shield oneself from the impact of misinformation or propaganda from any resource. When media users are unaware of the importance of fact-checking the news that they encounter, they are more likely to fall victim to fake news. For example, the majority of Americans tend to only read news headlines, which can often be deceiving because they are formed with the purpose of grabbing attention and being controversial. As the case of Cambridge Analytica has illustrated, when social media users pay little attention to how third parties can use their data, they become more susceptible to manipulation (The New York Times, 2018). Overall, the lack of awareness of how one consumes online media can hinder one’s perception of current events.
Overcoming Threats
A comprehensive and multidimensional strategy is needed to protect online users against persistent cyber threats. First, it is necessary to ensure that people are generally educated on the safety and privacy precautions when navigating online spaces. They should be informed about the importance of corroborating information and going beyond the headlines, especially of a political nature, that can impact the decisions on the country’s future.
When exposed to waves of information that aim at eroding trust in domestic institutions, a person needs to be aware of the reasons for its emergence. Another solution is using tools designed to fight online disinformation, such as the Global Disinformation Index, Faker Fact, Misinformation Detector, OpenSources, and many others (RAND, 2019). With the availability of browser extensions and applications, there is an abundance of methods that can be used to safeguard oneself from misinformation.
Conclusion
To conclude, cyberspaces are here to stay and will continue expanding to capture large groups of the population. This discussion boils down to the fact that one’s awareness of information exposure and consumption online is the key to being a conscious internet user. It is crucial that people are aware of the political and psychological underpinnings of polarization and the early signs of democratic breakdown.
References
McCoy, J. (2019). Polarization harms democracy and society. Web.
The New York Times. (2018). How Cambridge Analytica exploited the Facebook data of millions | NYT. YouTube. Web.
Petrosyan, A. (2023). Number of internet users in the United States from 2019 to 2028. Web.
RAND. (2019). Fighting disinformation online: A database of web tools. Web.
Schifrin, N. (2020). How the U.S. has stepped up fight against foreign disinformation. PBS. Web.